Transcript The Narrative Essay

The Narrative Essay:
A story with a thesis…
What is a Narrative Essay?
A narrative is a story
A narrative essay is a story that has a
specific point
A narrative essay strives to teach a lesson or
A narrative essay strives to make a specific
point
not
A narrative essay is
a diary entry – the
story is linked to the purpose of the essay
What Should Be Included in a
Narrative Essay?
 Often written in 1st person – I or we –
because it is based on a personal story
 Can also be written in 3rd person
 Has specific sensory details to get the
reader hooked on the story
 Is developed in chronological order
 Has verbs that help paint a picture and
draw in the reader (5 senses- touch, smell,
taste, feel and hear)
What Else Does the Narrative
Essay Need?
Since this is a story, the narrative essay
needs everything a story needs (these
are known as the story elements):
Has a plot (beginning/middle and end)
Has characters
Has a problem
Has a climax
Can use dialogue
Planning the Narrative Essay
 Write a thesis statement, just as with any other
essay
 Brainstorm for a personal story/event that
illustrates or proves the thesis statement
 Outline or web the important parts of the story
to be told
 Write an introductory paragraph that suggests
some hints about your thesis statement, and
then write the story
 Because this is a story, use as many paragraphs
as necessary to tell the story
 Write the conclusion that reflects on the thesis
statement and states your thesis statement
Start With a Thesis Statement
 The thesis will depend upon the story to be
proven.
 The thesis can be something general in the
case of a narrative essay. For example, you
may write, “Often times, people do not follow
simple directions. However, these campers
learned just how important following directions
can be.”
What Would You Expect From
This Thesis?
 As the reader, you will expect to learn why
following directions is important.
 As the reader, you will expect to read a story
about camping.
 As the reader, you will expect there to be a
twist in the action.
Outline the Parts of the Story
and Write Out the Story
An Informal Outline of the Story:
 Two campers go camping and ignore rules
 They leave out food
 An animal finds the food
 One of the campers tries to scare off the
animal
 Campers learn to follow the rules
Let’s Read the Essay – The
Introduction
It was a wonderful week to camp in the great
outdoors, even if some of their friends thought
it was a strange way to honeymoon. Trudy and
Jeff were looking forward to their week at
Great Smoky Mountains National Park in
Tennessee. Little did they know how much they
would learn from this experience in the woods.
Often times people do not follow simple
directions. However, these campers learned
why it is important to follow directions,
especially outdoors.
Setting the Scene of the Story
After a scenic drive through the glorious
mountains, Trudy and Jerry arrived at the
camping area. A ranger at the booth
handed them a map and asked, “Have
you ever camped with us before?”
“A better question would be if we ever
camped before,” Jerry answered
sarcastically.
“You’ll be fine. Just remember, this isn’t a
hotel. We do have bears and other animals
in the area, so lock your food up in the
car,” said the ranger as he handed them a
pamphlet with a lists of Do’s and Don’ts.
Developing the Plot
It took them a few hours, but they had finally set up the little
blue tent that they had just bought from Mountain Co-op last
week. Exhausted from their first attempt at setting up a
campsite, Trudy and Jeff crawled inside the tent that evening,
giggling and whispering to each other. They doused the light
inside the tent and ignored the world outside the canvas. The
ranger’s list was left laying on the tent floor.
Continuing the Action – Vivid
Word Choices
Just before sunrise, Jerry was awakened
by the sounds of metal ripping. He quietly
slipped out of the tent. A fully grown black
bear was sitting on their picnic table busily
prying the lid off the cooler they neglected
to store in the car the night before. Finding
the pound of bacon he prized, the bear
leaned back on his hind haunches and
began to devour the bacon. Jerry started
screaming at the bear, “Get out of here!
What do you think you’re doing?”
Reaching the Climax
By this point, most of the other campers had
exited their own tents and watched the scene
unfold. The bear was not amused by Jerry’s
threatening, especially with the remainder of
the bacon at stake. The black bear stood on
top of the picnic table to his full height. While
the bear actually stood only four feet tall, the
extra height of the table caused him to loom
over Jerry’s head. The bear suddenly fell
forward, striking the table with his full weight
and snarled. The table moaned in response.
The Climax Continues
Much more quickly than anyone
anticipated, the bear reached out his
huge, menacing paw towards Jerry. Fear
leapt into Jerry’s eyes as he turned and ran
back into his tent. Zip! closed the zipper.
Now, one can only imagine how much
time passed before Jerry and Trudy realized
the futility of his preventive actions. How
was a flimsy flap of canvas going to stop a
full-sized, angry bear?
Finding the Solution
Fortunately, the bear was much more
interested in the left-over bacon than in
Jerry and Trudy. The bear cautiously turned
around, climbed back on top of the table,
and continued to eat his early breakfast.
He carefully examined the remaining
contents of the cooler. Finding nothing else
as good as the bacon, the bear jumped off
the picnic table, grunted, licked his paws
and mouth, and then lumbered off into the
deeper woods that surrounded the
campground.
The Concluding Paragraph
The audience that had gathered applauded
spontaneously, then slowly returned to their
own campsites, shaking their heads in disbelief.
Meanwhile, inside the thin canvas tent, Trudy
and Jeff had lit their lantern and were carefully
studying the items listed on the Do’s and Don’ts
list. The rest of their trip was blissfully peaceful
as they made sure to follow all the rules at the
campsite.
Additional Ideas for Your
Thesis
Without a thesis, or a point, you are not
really writing a narrative essay but a
narrative – make sure to have a point. You
can get help finding a point when you:
Think about sayings or quotes that teach a lesson
Think about lessons learned from Aesop’s fables
Think about a time when you learned something
valuable
Read quotations to spawn ideas
Read your own journals for a time something
happened worth telling others about
Assignment
 Write a narrative essay on whatever you choose. You can
choose a theme from one of the stories you have read in class
to help with brainstorming.
 Criteria:
 1. Between 750-1000 words
 2. Must be in first or third person
 3. Show don’t tell!!!
 4. Must be typed and double spaced
 5. If you include dialogue, you must format properly. See me
for directions.
Process –First Draft
 1. Once you have chosen an incident, freewrite nonstop for
five minutes. Do you like it? Do you feel it? If it was a struggle,
then choose another topic OR change the point of view OR
choose a different incident
 2. Write your first draft quickly with little regard to spelling and
punctuation. Work on sentences but if you are stuck on how to
say it, just describe it and then come back to it.
 3.Once your first draft is written, leave it for 24 hours.
Process-Revision
 1. Add transition words THAT MAKE SENSE
 Show don’t tell.
 Revise awkward passages
 Have a peer read it. If they notice anything awkward, highlight
it.
 Have you varied your sentence lengths? Combine some
sentences but leave some simple and strong when you want
to emphasize a point.
 Read your essay out loud (but under your breath if with others
. If it sounds strange, fix it!